If your dreams don’t scare you, you’re playing too small.

The founders I respect most aren’t chasing unicorn status.
They’re chasing product love.
Happy customers. Real usage.
A company that people are proud to build and proud to work for.

The truth?
Great GTM doesn’t start with a VP hire.
It starts with you.

The CEO gets the meetings.
Crushes the demo.
Handles the objections.
Gets the signature.
Collects the payment.
And most importantly — gets them to use the product.
And use it again.
And again.

Now comes the question: Can you scale it?

Not with hacks. Not with a fancy deck or a viral moment.
But with a repeatable system:
→ High-tempo GTM experiments
→ A clear North Star Metric
→ Tight alignment between product, sales, and marketing
→ Feedback loops that actually drive iteration

Sean Ellis said it best: growth is a system tailored to your customer journey, not someone else’s playbook.

Bottlenecks? They're real.They show up when leadership delays decisions, hoards control, or punts on execution.
Don’t be that bottleneck.

Because in this market, execution is your only moat.

With great execution you get LIFTOFF

But now comes the hard part: Scaling.

Growth doesn’t happen by luck or “hacks.”
It’s a system. A rhythm. A mindset. Ellis calls it “high-tempo testing” — designing growth frameworks that align with your customers, your business model, and your unique journey. It means building your own growth engine — one that doesn’t rely on GPT prompts or shortcuts.

Let’s be real: Bottlenecks happen at the top.
If you’re not deciding, not delegating, not executing — you’re holding your team back.

Let’s GTM it.

🚀 A big thanks to everyone who’s upgraded to a PAID subscription—minimal expense - as your support fuels the content, convos, and connections I’m building every week.If you’ve been following along and getting value, consider going paid. It unlocks premium content and direct time with me to talk strategy. 👉 Subscribe here

#startups #growth #founders #gtm #newsletter #substack

Liftoff with Keith: Mastering The Startup Ecosystem. Dozens of conversations on strategies and tactics with examples around accelerating startups now on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUvvqr6CBiqMOUbWfe7vWzQ